INDIANAPOLIS — As the Jets were getting blow out in Foxborough on Dec. 6, LaDainian Tomlinson told the Patriots that the Jets would be returning. He was right.
“The funny thing is, I remember late in the fourth quarter as the Patriots were talking and yapping about the game that night,” Tomlinson recalled last night after the Jets’ dramatic 17-16 wild-card triumph set up a rematch with the Patriots, “and I said to a couple of guys, I said, ‘Guys, we’ll be back. You guys got us tonight, but we’ll be back.’ And so for us, we’re waiting on this opportunity.”
Tomlinson — who as a member of the Chargers twice had his season end with a playoff loss to the Patriots — and the Jets are bound for Beantown for next Sunday’s AFC Divisional battle looking to erase the memory of their last visit there. In the Week 13 contest against the Patriots, the Jets were absolutely annihilated, 45-3, as Mark Sanchez threw three picks while Tom Brady went 21-of-29 for 326 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.
A chance to go to the AFC Championship is on the line.
“This game is officially over. You’d better believe I’m thinking about New England,” wide receiver Braylon Edwards said. “That’s our next game. We’ll be ready.”
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Well, we’ll see. Knocking off the Colts is fine. The Patriots are another animal entirely, having gone 14-2 this season, though one of their losses came in Week 2 to the Jets at the Meadowlands. Last year, the Jets were eliminated from the playoff by the AFC’s top seed — the Colts.
“It’s going to be tough football. We know they embarrassed us last time,” cornerback Darrelle Revis said. “So this is our chance to prove again to the world that we’ve got another chance to go back at these guys and try to get a win.”
Added safety Eric Smith, “It’s going to be a tough game. Up in New England, they’re going to be ready. They’re going to have that confidence that they put 45 up on us last time we played.
“So it’s going to be a challenge. A guy like Tom Brady is just like Peyton Manning. It’s going to be a tough game.”
Normally chatty Jets coach Rex Ryan actually declined to talk about the Pats in the aftermath of last night’s emotion win. Give him till today.
“Right now I’m just going to focus on the Colts,” Ryan said. “I think we earned about 12 hours of enjoying this victory.”
Additional reporting by
Mike Vaccaro